Scholarship recipients set sights on industry careers
NPCA awarded 10 undergraduate students with an NPCA Foundation scholarship to help them reach their educational goals and begin building a future in the precast concrete industry. In this issue, NPCA features the final four student recipients. You can read profiles of the other six recipients at precast.org/precasttoday.
Jarret Castillo
Tyler, Texas
Texas State University
Jarret Castillo is a freshman at Texas State University studying concrete industry management, a program that teaches students to manage people and systems and promote products or services related to the concrete industry. Castillo has always had an interest in construction, building and city development. Since concrete is at the center of the construction industry, he knew he needed to get involved in it. Texas State University is one of five schools that offers a CIM program, and Castillo thought it was the right program from him.
Castillo’s interest in this industry grew stronger the more he learned about it. When he started college, he discovered the mother of a friend does workshops for a construction company where she teaches others about what goes into a construction business. Aside from getting all A’s, Castillo hopes to get more involved on campus, specifically in the school’s concrete lab and become a part of the American Concrete Institute. His goal is to learn as much as possible and gain experience within the industry. He eventually hopes to build affordable housing for those in need.
Castillo is very grateful to receive a scholarship from NPCA and glad to know there are people in the precast industry that can help him learn and support him throughout his journey in the industry. Outside of school, Castillo enjoys hanging out with friends, playing basketball, watching movies and exploring new places.
William Gruber
Durand, Wisconsin
Milwaukee School of Engineering
William Gruber attributes his love of precast to his dad. Gruber’s dad has been working in the precast concrete industry for 25 years and is now a plant manager at a local facility in Wisconsin. As soon as he was old enough, Gruber started working production and is still working there four years later. In his production jobs, he has helped pour and strip concrete as well as helped set up for new projects, whether that be state, city or private projects.
Gruber enjoys working with precast because of how it has evolved. He thinks it is interesting all the different things that concrete can be used for and how far it has come. Gruber is amazed at how he is always learning a new way that concrete is applied into the world. He is a freshman at the Milwaukee School or Engineering with a tentative major in mechanical engineering. His biggest educational goals are to graduate early while being debt-free. Gruber says that his post-graduate plans and goals are still up in the air, but he knows that this summer he would like to continue his internship at Wieser Concrete.
In his free time, Gruber likes going to the gym, fishing and hunting. His family is also big on snowmobiling in the winter.
Caleb Hauptman
Henniker, New Hampshire
Roger Williams University
Caleb Hauptman is a freshman at Roger Williams University with a major in construction management and minor in business. For Hauptman, his mom’s ownership of a concrete company sparked his interest in the industry. A family-owned company, Michie Concrete products was owned by Hauptman’s grandparents before his mother took over. He has been around precast concrete his whole life and eventually started working with it. When he was old enough, Hauptman started working and learning all the intricate details that go into a concrete plant, how the concrete is made and different ways it can be used. One of his favorite things about the industry is how versatile concrete can be and its many different applications from barriers on the side of the highway to the foundation of a house.
This summer, Hauptman plans to get his certification in testing concrete, which he says is a skill that will help him in school, where they do a lot of concrete testing. He also hopes to be on the Dean’s List during his time at school. After he graduates, he expects to stay involved in the precast industry, whether that’s working at his family company or branching out. Specifically, he is looking to manage production or be a project manager. Outside of school and work, Hauptman likes doing outdoor activities like fishing and swimming, and he enjoys wrestling.
Adele Severson
Central Point, Oregron
Brigham Young University
Adele Severson is a freshman at Brigham Young University studying to be a civil engineer. She discovered the precast concrete industry when she was looking for scholarships. She took an interest in precast because of its sustainability factor. Severson’s long-term goal is to help the environment and that it exactly what she plans to do through her civil engineering degree. She wants to help create solutions that benefit the environment for future generations.
Severson believes that helping the environment goes hand-in-hand with helping humanity because we, as a society, have to work with the resources we have while still saving some for future generations. Severson has always loved math and learning, so she is excited to have courses related to math and sustainability during her college career. She plans to use concrete to make cities more environmentally friendly. Severson says some examples could be implementing bike paths with solar panels or even using more precast concrete for wastewater management and storm water drainage.
Outside of school and thinking about ways to improve the environment, Severson likes to read, be outdoors, play violin and figure skate.
Read more about the future of precast: